Tony's Week- Day Five

Saturday was a whirlwind of a day for the CultureBuddies. We saw two very different plays. The matinee was Cry Baby, the new musical based on the John Waters movie starring Johnny Depp. We went with Leslie's adorable niece, Sarah, a student at UVA who is interning at Vogue for the summer. We had great seats, 5th row orchestra, and we all had a good time. The show is in the 'bad boy meets and falls in love with the good girl' genre which has been done so many times--Hairspray, Grease, etc.--but what made this show a cut above the rest was the excellent choreography. The male dance numbers were great, especially one with the 'bad boys' who were unjustly sent to prison dancing with license plates on their shoes. Very clever and well done. The music is very good, as well. It was a fun show, but I don't expect it to have a long run.

When we came out of the theatre, it was absolutely pouring, complete with thunder and lightning. We tried to get a cab for Sarah, but that was just insane. Leslie bought her an umbrella and off she went to the subway a couple blocks away. We waited around awhile, but there were no signs it was going to stop anytime soon. We decided to make a run for it to the hotel which was only three blocks down. When we got to the hotel, we were completely soaked--even our underwear was wet! Laughing, of course, we got in the elevator. A woman looked at us and say, "You guys are all wet . . ." as if she was letting us in on something we didn't know! Of course, this made us laugh even more.

At night, we went to see a show that has gotten great reviews, Boeing Boeing. We were both a little worried that it might turn out to be a lame comedy, but we couldn't have been more wrong. It was hilarious and a nearly perfect farce. The cast was the kind that only can be seen on Broadway- absolutely four star: Brad Whitford (Josh from West Wing) as the ex-pat living in Paris juggling romances with three airline stewardesses, Mark Rylance (a first rate Shakespearean actor) as an American dropping in on his friend for the first time in 20 years, and the three stewardesses- brilliantly played by Gina Gershon, Mary McCormack and Kathryn Hahn. The cast is rounded out with Christine Baranski playing the French maid. They are all wonderfully funny with the kind of impecable timing that a farce, with all the opening and closing of doors,requires. We basically howled for two and a half hours. Mark Rylance was especially hilarious as the visitor who is in shock by the chaos in the apartment--his deadpan expression is just priceless. He won the Tony for Best Actor Sunday night, and he really deserved it. See it if you get a chance while this great cast is still in the show. I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't enjoy it.

We ended our busy day being treated to a nice meal by my son, Adam, and his date Val. Seeing Adam is a ritual for the CultureBuddies, and we always enjoy hearing about his life in the city and all of his entrepreneurial ventures. Of course, we stayed up way too late Saturday night/Sunday morning. It's tough falling asleep after seeing a show as hilarious as Boeing Boeing.